Ling 2101 – online
Projects
The two projects assigned to you apply the concepts of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, respectively, to
an unknown language, that will be assigned to you in due time. The exercise aims to verify your
understanding of the phonological and morphological mechanisms, and the way you can apply
this knowledge to a foreign language.
There are two extra documents that give you models for these two projects, both on Romanian
(posted separately on D2L under Project1model and Project2model). Do not copy these texts,
but try to emulate the organization of the material, the type of discussion and the convention for
referencing, while presenting the language assigned to you.
BE WARNED: The two projects rely on your own, independent research, with no
bibliographical advice from me. Gathering the information you need is part of the learning
process and may be time consuming (any good research is). Please start your inquiries as early as
you can. For materials you need, search on the UNB database, in E-journals, Catalogue and
UNBS library. Do not rely on web materials only, because you may end up plagiarizing, which is
prohibited.
Each project will be typewritten, single spaced, on standard US letter setup, in Times New
Roman 12, using Word (that allows me to insert comments directly in the text). Please keep a
copy of your work before you submit it. There is no minimum page number requirement. The
work is assessed for the accuracy of the information and its relevance to the questions asked.
Insertion of diagrams, youtube clips (http address), or any other media supported illustration is
highly encouraged, but only insofar as such additions are relevant to the topic of your paper.
For both projects, you will be researching one of the languages listed below. The language will
be assigned to you by a random pairing made by the computer and will be sent to you in an email
message. Please monitor your emails carefully. You will research the same language for both
projects.
The structure of each project is:
1. Introduction of the language discussed (e.g., where it is spoken, by whom…) = one
paragraph
2. Define the theoretical concepts you will look at. One sentence per concept. In order to
decide what concepts you will work with, you have to look at the questions.
3. Answer the questions assigned (see below). This is the main body of your research.
4. Conclude the description by placing your language in a cross-linguistic perspective (what
other languages have the same system; can you classify it typologically?)
5. Give the bibliographical list (References) of all the materials you used for your project.
References should also be given in the text, every time information from the respective
book/article is used in your paper. Examples are provided in the Project models, on your
D2L site.
If you provide textual examples, you have to gloss them and then translate them. The glosses
have to be aligned to the words in the original text. You will find examples of glossing in the
Project 2 model (e.g. Table 2).
Project #1 – Phonetics and Phonology
The title of your project will be:
The phonological system of X (name of your language)
The questions for this project are the following:
(i) What is the list of phonemes in the language? Use IPA to represent all the classes of
sounds that qualify as phonemes.
(ii) Are there phonotactic constraints, allophones or peculiarities in alternations? At this
point, you may introduce phonetic information (e.g., how many pronunciations can
we find for the same phoneme?). Not all languages present peculiarities in these
areas; discuss only what is specific to that language.
(iii) What are the main supra-segmental properties of the language? At this point, you
must consider the syllable structure, syllable accent/tone, or any other peculiarity.
Please AVOID the following issues and any other issue that is irrelevant to the topic:
Writing systems (alphabets)
Pronunciation of words for English speakers or other foreigners
Translations issues
Cultural/historical/political issues
Project #2 – Inflectional Morphology
The title of your project will be:
The inflectional morphology of X (the name of your language)
The questions for this project are the following:
(i) What is the structure of lexemes in this language? (roots, bound, free morphemes etc).
(ii) Focus on inflectional (not on derivational) morphology: what are the operations?
(affixation, reduplication etc.).
(iii) How does this language inflect nouns? (list all the features; examples)
(iv) Is there anything important about the relation between nouns and other grammatical
categories? (e.g., articles, adjectives). Do not describe these other categories, focus
only on their relation with the noun (e.g., is there any agreement?)
(v) How does this language inflect verbs? (list all the features; examples)
Please AVOID any irrelevant information, such as:
Details about vocabulary and meanings/lists of words
Etymologies, historical discussions
Cultural/political implications
List of languages
Albanian (Tosk) Algonquin Armenian Cherokee Cree
Dene Farsi Finish Guarani Korean (standard)
Kyrgyz Navajo Nheengatu Niuean Onondaga
Pashto Quechua Romansh Slave(y) Tagalog
Tajik Thai Tibetan (standard) Turkish
Uzbek Vietnamese Warlpiri Xhosa Zulu
